NASCAR media has fun with Enders' triumph over Kurt Busch

DALLAS (April 10) -- What started as a fun trip to the NASCAR race at Texas Motor Speedway turned into an event for NHRA star Erica Enders when the motorsports media found out the girl that beat past series champion Kurt Busch was in attendance.

Enders was invited to the race by Todd Berrier, the crew chief on Jeff Burton's #31 Caterpillar Chevrolet, who is a friend of Enders' team owner, Victor Cagnazzi. But as driver of the ZaZa Energy Cobalt made her way through the garage to visit with some of her NASCAR friends, the media found out she was on the property and moved in for interviews.

"I was actually talking with some of Kurt's crew guys, who had come to the Gatornationals to help Kurt when he was racing the Pro Stock car, and a reporter started asking about my race against Kurt," Enders said. 'It just kind of took off from there."

Before long, Enders was in the media center, spending 30 minutes on MRN, doing a live segment on SIRIUS Satellite Radio, jumping on with several local radio and TV broadcasts, and sitting down with a variety of print journalists. Enders beat Busch on March 13 in his first Pro Stock race.

"They were all pretty interested in how Kurt did when he raced his Pro Stock car in Florida," Enders said. "I told them the truth; he did a great job. They also seemed to have a lot of fun with the fact he lost his first race to a female driver so I let them know that girls have been drag racing for a long time, and we've been beating the boys along the way. I let them know it's not a big deal to drag racers."

When the race started, Enders split her time between a coveted seat on top of Burton's pit box and a cushy chair in motorsport impresario Bruton Smith's luxury suite. 

"Bruton and Marcus were gracious hosts and said they are very excited about next weekend's second annual VisitMyrtleBeach.com NHRA 4-Wide Nationals at zMax Dragway," Enders said. "He probably didn’t need to hear it from me but I let him know how much drag racers enjoy going to the tracks he owns. His tracks are first class, and his suite was pretty much like a palace. It was awesome.

"Maybe it's just the racer in me but I kind of liked the pit box better. I like being down there in the noise where the action is going on. Those guys are amazing to watch. It's crazy what they do in 10 seconds. It was neat to see from up close and I can't thank Todd enough for inviting me down there."

Enders' visit prompted NASCAR officials to extend an invitation for her to wave the green flag at a future NASCAR race.

It's already been a great year for Enders. Aside from her much-ballyhooed victory over Busch at Gainesville Raceway, the most successful female Pro Stock racer in history has set a national speed record of 213.57 mph and was No. 1 qualifier at the season-opening Winternationals in Pomona, Calif. She's currently seventh in the early season points.